Students left hanging despite trade-school settlement

Newbridge College ultrasound graduate Omaira Melgoza, pictured with her son Gabriel Garcia, is part of a group of 57 students who sued the Santa Ana-based Newbridge College trade school in 2009 for fraud. The plaintiffs reached a monetary settlement in the spring, but the school was acquired by a different company a few months later and the students have been unable to collect any of the money they're owed.LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Omaira Melgoza emerged $22,000 in debt from an ultrasound technician program at Santa Ana’s Newbridge College in 2011 and couldn’t find a job.

She and many of her classmates couldn’t even get job interviews, she said, because the trade school lacked a respected national accreditation for sonography.

So she and 56 other former Newbridge students sued their school for fraud and misrepresentation, and in the spring were awarded a confidential settlement intended to partially reimburse their tuition.

They will never see a dime of that money.

In August, the for-profit institution was abruptly taken over by another trade school, West Covina-based North-West College. The Newbridge corporation was left with no assets, and the students were left with no way to collect their settlement money.

“I went to this school thinking I was doing the right thing, getting an education,” said Melgoza, 30, of Anaheim, who works in a clerical job at Mission Viejo’s Mission Hospital. “I don’t understand how the government even allows these schools to exist when they know they’re ripping people off.”

The students’ frustration over Newbridge’s dissolution is just one example of why for-profit education companies have come under increasing fire from lawmakers and other critics.

Two weeks ago, California’s attorney general sued one of the nation’s biggest trade schools, Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges, accusing it of falsifying job-placement rates and using predatory tactics to recruit students. (Corinthian said it would “vigorously fight” the complaint.)

In the Newbridge lawsuit, which was filed in Orange County Superior Court in 2009, four students initially were named. The figure swelled to 57.

Newbridge chief executive Duncan Thomas defended his company, telling the Register that most of the students had only sued to gain an “economic advantage.” Their pricey settlement deals rendered the 37-year-old company financially insolvent, he said.

“We have found that there are students who legitimately feel aggrieved, but the preponderance are piggybacking to see if they too can get money,” Thomas said in an email. “In the end, the same students who blame the school put it out of business, which then devalued their own diploma and those of tens of thousands of alumni.”

At Newbridge, which has its main campus in Santa Ana and a sister campus in Long Beach, students can select from 10 career-training specialties. They range from an eight-month medical assisting program for $13,000 to the 1-1/2-year, $40,000 ultrasound program, known as diagnostic medical sonography. The units generally aren’t transferrable or recognized by traditional colleges.

The ultrasound students interviewed by the Register said their diplomas were worthless, the quality of instruction was spotty and they got so little on-the-job training that they felt unqualified to perform ultrasounds after graduation.

“Every clinic and hospital I applied to would turn me away because I didn’t go to the proper school,” said ultrasound plaintiff Leith Stuart, 28, of Compton, who graduated $25,000 in debt and now works in asset management. “It’s put such a bitter taste in my mouth that I have no desire to pursue it.”

The job search was nearly identical for ultrasound plaintiff Diana Parkinson, who said she emerged $32,000 in debt.

Newbridge College ultrasound graduate Omaira Melgoza, pictured with her son Gabriel Garcia, is part of a group of 57 students who sued the Santa Ana-based Newbridge College trade school in 2009 for fraud. The plaintiffs reached a monetary settlement in the spring, but the school was acquired by a different company a few months later and the students have been unable to collect any of the money they're owed. LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Semra Bakuy, a former student in the ultrasound technician program at Santa Ana's Newbridge College, was part of a 2009 lawsuit filed by Newbridge graduates that alleged the school misled students about their job-placement prospects. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Omaira Melgoza, 30, left, is a graduate of the ultrasound technician program at Santa Ana's Newbridge College and is part of a 2009 lawsuit against the school. The school has since been acquired by a different company which says it is not a party to the lawsuit. She is pictured with her 14-year-old son, Gabriel Garcia. LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Semra Bakuy, a former student in the ultrasound technician program at Santa Ana's Newbridge College, poses at her Costa Mesa home. She was part of a 2009 lawsuit filed by Newbridge graduates that alleged the school misled students about their job-placement prospects. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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